


Baby Blues

by MedieavalBeabe



Series: Cliched Titles For Your Relationship With Peter Maximoff [9]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Actual Pregnancy, Angst, Dark Phoenix - Freeform, Gen, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, Pain, Rumours of Pregnancy, Sort Of, angst with happy ending, space travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 15:16:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20010436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedieavalBeabe/pseuds/MedieavalBeabe
Summary: There are rumours going around the school but when something happens to Jean, you've got more than just a school bet to worry about...





	Baby Blues

**Author's Note:**

> (Okay, you may find this title misleading when you first read it, but stay until the end and it makes sense. I apologise for the length of this; I really wanted to include the Reader in a Dark Phoenix fic after watching the film and I didn't want to have to divide this into two separate fics. I promise the next, and final, one will be shorter. Also, if anything's not quite accurate I apologise because I've only seen the film once, a few weeks ago, and I can't remember it all; and any transcripts I found online don't really help with who says what lines and what actually happens, so if any scenes feel a bit rushed, that's why. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy.)

Ah, space. That great big thing beyond the planets that’s filled with stars and meteors and all the other things that astrophysicists like to spend all their time studying in astronomy towers. The thing that makes people wonder “Why are we here?” and the thing that makes people realise how insignificant they are when looking up at the sky at night during a long walk home. The place that’s the setting for Star Wars and Battle Beyond The Stars, the inspiration for the submarine and the atomic bomb, the Earth’s natural wonder.

And you’d like it a lot more if it was still up there and you were on the ground, not currently strapped firmly into your seat in the X-Jet, feeling like if the thing goes up any faster your stomach will shoot into your throat and your eyeballs will just about burst. Even squeezed tightly shut it’s awful.

Then you feel Peter’s hand grab yours from behind and you open your eyes, glancing around at him as best as the seat’s straps will allow you to.

“You okay?” Surprisingly, Peter looks pretty calm about being up in space, although you suppose you shouldn’t be surprised about the speed not bothering him, he’s the fastest guy on Earth after all.

“Y-yeah,” you manage to say.

Thankfully, Kurt voices what you’re really thinking and feeling when he says “I think this is not as much fun as I thought it would be.”

You smile as you squeeze Peter’s hand tightly. A year ago, neither of you would have ever thought you’d find yourselves in space with Kurt, Jean, Scott, Storm, Raven and Hank, and yet here you are. Taking a deep breath, you turn back to the job in hand, rescuing a space shuttle crew before they can be hit by a solar flare.

One by one you’re ordered to use your Mutations to save the people; Scott to shoot at the shuttle’s thrusters to slow its spin, Kurt to take Peter aboard so they can grab all the crew and bring them back here (Peter kisses your cheek with a quick “Try not to miss me too much!” before they go) and you to freeze the cracks in the ship to give them more time to save everyone, and to keep the crew alive as long as possible. You focus all your attention on that, although this is bigger than anything you’ve ever had to try and freeze before and the close heat from the solar flare means your efforts are starting to melt almost as soon as you finish. Desperately, you keep up your efforts, going back over each frozen patch with more and more ice until it’s covered in more ice than metal.

_“(Y/N),_ it’s okay, that’s enough,” Hank says, looking back at you worriedly because now you seem obsessed with fixing every tiny little crack until the boys come back even though you’re now starting to get a headache. This happens sometimes when you over-exert yourself. Hank looks over at Storm. “Help her.”

“No, it’s okay, I’ve got it,” you insist.

Storm looks at you, worriedly. “No, you’re looking really flushed.”

“Yeah, _(Y/N),_ you can let go now,” Jean adds, also worried as Storm takes over crack-fixing. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I’ve got this,” you mutter, although your head is now starting to pound.

“Strap in, we’re heading home,” Raven orders as Kurt, Peter and the shuttle crew teleport back into the X-Jet.

You’re about to let go and relax when one of the crew says “Wait, our Commander. He’s not here, he was in the airlock.”

_Oh, come on!_

“We can’t hold this much longer,” Storm warns.

Peter suddenly notices the look of utter concentration on your face and realises what’s happening. “Whoa, _(Y/N),_ stop!” He crouches next to you. “You’re gonna give yourself brain freeze!”

“I can do this!” you utter, stubbornly. “Just...someone grab the Commander!”

Whilst Hank and Raven get into a quick argument about whether to leave the Commander behind or not, Peter moves closer to you. _“(Y/N),_ seriously, let Storm do it. You’ve done enough.”

“I’m fine...” you insist.

Peter jumps up as Jean finally states she can hold the ship together from the inside, meaning Kurt has to teleport her inside. A quick whiff of air around the X-Jet and Kurt’s duct-taped into a spare space helmet so he won’t die in the airlock. The second he and Jean have zapped back to the shuttle, you hit your limit and throw your hands up to your forehead. “Argh! Brain freeze!”

Of all the side-effects of your Mutation, this has to be the worst one. It’s worse than what everyone else refers to as “brain freeze” when they eat ice cream too fast. It literally feels like your head’s been thrust into a bucket full of ice, like every particle in your brain has been gripped by giant frozen pincers tugging and tugging until you see stars behind your eyes. The rest of your body feels hot, like when there’s a heatwave and you’re trying to sleep. It’s an awful feeling, and one you wouldn’t expect to get given that your Mutation makes you pretty much immune to cold. But it’s an unexplainable side-effect that just comes with the Mutation; some Mutants get nosebleeds when they over-exert themselves, others faint, like Kurt that time he saved you all from Apocalypse, and you get this splitting, freezing migraine.

Peter’s next to you again in an instant, one hand cupping the back of your head worriedly. “Hey, stay with me, okay?” Sometimes your headaches can get so bad they can knock you out for a couple of hours. “Focus on my voice.”

“Okay,” you murmur. Opening your eyes, you can just about see Jean where she is inside the shuttle as her Mutation begins to piece it back together again. You’re all willing her, Kurt and the Commander to come back alive. Then, with a BAMF, Kurt lands back inside the X-Jet with the Commander, but no Jean.

“Where’s Jean?” Scott demands. “Kurt! Where is she? Where is she?!”

Kurt looks both shocked and worried at the same time. “I’m so sorry!”

As one, your group realises Jean’s still inside the shuttle and the solar flare’s about to hit. You all spin about to watch as it makes contact and then...

Then, the weirdest thing happens.

The shuttle burns up in the flare but Jean still floats above the stars, looking untouched even as the fire curls itself around her body and seemingly courses through her veins. As it vanishes, common sense suddenly prevails and Kurt zaps himself out there, grabs her and teleports them both back into the X-Jet. Scott immediately leaps to Jean’s side and you all watch as her eyes slowly flutter open. “Is every...is everybody okay?”

“Yeah, everybody’s okay,” Scott grins, relieved.

“Well, most of us,” Peter jokes, looking at you.

Jean smiles. “I knew that was going to happen.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you mutter, rubbing your temples. Then, you join your friends as you all laugh in relief that you all made it out alive, and as Peter kisses your forehead you thank God once again that you have full control over your Mutation, otherwise none of you might be alive right now.

The trip back is less chaotic, thankfully, not that you really notice because your head is still splitting, although Peter’s ministrations help somewhat, stroking your hair and murmuring softly to you that it’s not far now and to just hang on. You nod and smile gratefully, glad that he always somehow knows just what to say and do to make you feel better. You’d like to just go straight back to the school and get one of Hank’s “magic pills”, aka the strongest painkillers every invented, designed specifically for Mutants, but of course you have to take the astronauts back to NASA first and there you’re all met by a screaming crowd of fans, some of them holding up signs or dressed up as their favourite Mutant heroes.

You smile, wearily, rubbing your forehead and trying to appear normal. Peter glances at you, grabbing your hand. “Is this making it worse?”

“No, but it’s not exactly helping.” You look up at him and try to smile reassuringly. “Really, Peter, I’m fine.”

When you eventually do get back to the mansion, you’re all met with raucous applause from the students and Charles rolls proudly forward to meet you. “The President sends his regards, as well as his heartfelt gratitude,” he informs you all. “As for myself, I’ve never been prouder. Enjoy yourselves, you certainly deserve it. In fact, you all do, no more classes for the day.”

As you and Jean follow Hank so he can sort you both out, “standard medical” for anyone injured in the field, Peter starts talking to some of the children who come up to ask what happened. _“(Y/N)_ and I basically did everything. I mean, Jean did a little, like towards the end, but it was mostly just us.”

“Peter!” you scold.

“Alright, the others helped a little,” Peter amends, flushing.

You shake your head and follow Hank, even though you know you’re going to be alright and you just need a painkiller, and some water. Luckily, Hank has his “magic pills” to hand the second he walks into his lab, though he insists on running you through his scanner just to make sure everything else is fine. For some reason, Jean looks really hopeful when he does that. You just shrug and take your pill, deciding you are never, never going into space ever again.

“Feel better?” Hank asks, after reporting everything’s good with you.

You take a sip of water, swallow and nod almost instantly. “Yeah, I’m fine now, Hank. Thanks.”

Jean glances at him expectantly and Hank shrugs. “Sorry, Jean, looks like you were wrong on this one.”

“No!” Jean exclaims, playfully, looking both disappointed.

“What?” you ask, glancing from one to the other.

“Well, we thought you were...you know...” Jean gestures wildly.

“I literally have no idea what you two are babbling about,” you say.

“Pregnant,” Hank supplies.

“Who’s pregnant?”

“We thought you were.” Jean smiles, guiltily.

“What?” You spin to face her, not sure whether to be indignant or what. Is she implying you’re putting on weight or something. “Why?”

“Well, I saw you rubbing your stomach the other day in the library and, you know, you and Peter have been married for a year now...”

You blink. “Jean, that was cramps, that was the complete opposite of being pregnant.” Jean’s shoulders slump. Hank just smiles. “Wait a minute, you two both thought that...” You look at Hank. “No one else thought that, did they?”

“Well, actually-”

“Oh, God, how many?”

“The whole school. Well, except for Peter obviously.”

“We kind of had a bet on,” Jean adds, “about when you were going to announce it.”

“Wha-?” You look back at her. “You were taking bets on whether or not I was pregnant? Unbelievable! You know, you’d better tell everyone I’m not pregnant right now!” You’re about to storm out but pause at the door. “Huh. That would explain why Kurt was asking about whether we’d picked out names yet.”

You stalk out of the room and are about to make your way back up the stairs to your room when a whiff of air rushes past you. You stop and a second later Peter’s at your side, having accidently almost run past you. Again. “Hey. You alright?” He pulls you into a hug, talking a mile a minute as usual as his lips brush your forehead. “I didn’t know whether I should just barge in there or not.”

Sighing, you hug him back. “Can we go up to our room, please?”

“Sure.” Peter picks you up and rushes the pair of you back to your shared living quarters.

You love it here, in your little haven of the school where you and Peter get to be alone together. Alright, somehow it doesn’t quite have the same cosiness as Peter’s basement but it’s equipped with everything you need; soft double bed, plenty of closet space, a roomy lounge area with two sofas and TV slash video player, en suite bathroom with a bath and shower, sink and toilet, and, best of all, according to Peter, the fact that there was also a fridge in your living room area that was small but perfect for storing wine, beer and Twinkies. Yes, despite being grown up now, neither of you had quite lost your taste for those just yet.

“So, what’s up?” Peter asks, setting you back down.

You glance at your reflection in the mirror before answering, trying to work out whether you have in fact put on weight or not. “Peter, do I look different to you?”

“Well, your hair’s all mussed,” Peter grins, smoothing it down for you, “but no. Why?”

Your shoulders slump in relief. “Because everyone thinks I’m pregnant, apparently.”

“What? Why?”

“Okay, well you know a couple of days ago I had those really bad cramps..? Yeah, apparently, Jean saw me rubbing my stomach and now the whole school thinks we’re having a baby.”

Peter blinks. “So you couldn’t have possibly just been in pain or hungry or something?”

“No, apparently I was communicating with an imaginary foetus!” You slump onto the bed. “You know they even had a bet on about it!”

Grinning, Peter joins you on the bed. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, you certainly didn’t _look_ pregnant that day, and you don’t now.”

Softening, you smile at him. “Thank you. You always know exactly what to say.” Peter kisses your forehead again. Outside, you can hear what sounds like a party being set up. “Sounds like the others are celebrating, shall we join them?”

“We could...” Peter murmurs, now playing with your hair, twisting a lock of it around his finger tantalisingly. “Or we could have a quick celebration of our own up here before we go down.”

You glance at him. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, since you don’t have a headache anymore...”

Your smile broadens as he leans down to kiss you. “I like your thinking, Mr Maximoff.”

*

Afterwards, as you lie curled up next to him, you can’t help thinking about what Jean said, and how excitable the others had seemed about the prospect of you maybe having a baby sometime soon. Of course, it isn’t the first time you’ve thought about it before, but you’re not sure you’re quite ready for it just yet. After all, you and Peter have only been married a year and having children isn’t something you should rush into. On the other hand, Magda had kind of had having children thrust on her unexpectedly and she had done a pretty good job with all of them.

You smile. Wanda and Lorna are well into their teens now, and you’re still not entirely sure how that happened. The last time you’d babysat them they’d been seven, still wanting to play dressing up and now they were in high school getting giggly about boys. They’d looked so beautiful as bridesmaids for your wedding; Jean naturally being your maid of honour and Storm being the bridesmaid that keeps the younger ones in check. That had been a beautiful day altogether, and everyone who’d been invited had turned up except for one. Erik. You couldn’t blame him, though, it had just so happened that he’d got sick that day and couldn’t make it, and to his mind missing the wedding of two X-Men he barely knew really wasn’t that big of a deal. Plus you had no idea how Magda would have reacted to him being there. Although it was kind of a shame he hadn’t been able to see his own son get married, even if he didn’t know Peter was his son. Still, one day maybe...

“Do you want kids one day?” you ask, abruptly.

“Yeah, I do,” Peter replies, although he sounds slightly uneasy. “Only...”

You glance up at him. “What?”

“What if I’m no good at it?” Peter sits up. “Being a dad? I mean, mine never got to raise me so I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“I think not letting them wander into traffic is one of the requirements,” you joke.

Peter chuckles, although he still looks uncertain. “Seriously, though, _(Y/N).”_ He sighs. “What if our kids don’t like me?”

“Of course they will.” You sit up and wrap your arms around him. “You’re really good with kids, look what a mentor you’re becoming for all the kids here. They all say Quicksilver’s the coolest Mutant ever.”

“Really?” Peter grinned. “I thought having ice powers made you the coolest.”

It’s your turn to laugh as you bury your head in his shoulder. “Seriously, Peter. You’ll be a great dad, I can feel it. Look at the way you always looked after Lorna and Wanda.”

Peter smiles, squeezing your hand. “Thanks. I think you’re gonna be a great mom one day too.”

“Yeah, well, I had a great role model.” You kiss his cheek. “Yours.”

His confident grin comes back as he pulls you to your feet. “Come on, better join the others or they’ll really start spreading rumours!”

You giggle, envying his ability to get dressed in a matter of seconds as you pull on a change of clothes as quickly as possible. Peter picks you up and you’re outside before you really have time to blink. Outside, there are fairy lights strung up around the trees and tables of refreshments set up whilst Alison, also known as Dazzler, sings and uses her Mutation to create rainbow light patterns to entertain the kids. A few of them run up to the two of you, chattering about how great you are and in the distance you hear one of them shouting “We love you, Icicle!”

“Icicle?” You glance at Peter. “Is that my superhero name now?”

Peter flushes. “Yeah, we kind of had a vote on it, didn’t we guys?” A few of the kids nod. “It was a close call, though, you were very nearly Snowflake.”

The kids giggle. You put your head on one side, pondering. “Icicle...I like it.”

You wander over to where Kurt and Storm are standing by the punchbowl. “Hey,” Storm greets you with a grin.

“How’s your head?” Kurt adds.

You smile, accepting the cup he hands you. “Better now, thanks for asking.”

“I told you to stop,” Peter reminds you, also taking some punch.

You scowl at him. “Are you looking forward to sleeping on the couch tonight, Peter?”

Kurt and Storm laugh as Peter gives you a playfully annoyed look. Then a couple of the older kids come past, whispering to each other and the four of you are close enough to catch what they’re saying.

“But she doesn’t _look_ pregnant!”

“Well, not yet, but Miss Grey thinks she is!”

You shake your head and take another sip of punch. “You guys are so dead.”

“Hey, it wasn’t us,” Storm protests. “Jean started it.”

“Whoa, _(Y/N).”_ Scott has just come up for a refill. “Should you really be drinking that in your condition?”

“Should you really be drinking that when it’s frozen solid?” you return.

Scott checks his cups. “Hey!”

Peter laughs, high-fiving you. “You had that one coming!”

“Alright, you’re off the couch,” you decide, smiling as he kisses your cheek.

Scott sighs. “Alright, I’m sorry, please can you unfreeze these?”

You thaw his punch out for him, leaving some ice cubes to keep them cool. “How’s Jean?”

Scott glances over at her. From what you can see, Jean seems normal, albeit a little...peppier than usual, maybe. She certainly seems to have a lot of energy now. “She’s, uh...”

“Thirsty?” Storm supplies.

“She seem okay to you?” Scott asks.

“For someone who’s just been hit with solar flares? I’d say she’s doing pretty good.”

“She seems pretty hyped up,” you point out.

“Yeah, but she’s got every right to be, she just survived what might have killed all those astronauts after all,” Peter adds.

You have to agree with him there. Scott relaxes and goes back over to her with the drinks, whilst the four of you stand chatting together and listening to Alison’s singing. Then, to your surprise, Peter takes your empty cup, puts it with his on the table and takes your hand. “Dance with me?”

“Okay.” You let him lead you amidst the rest of the dancers. “But I thought you weren’t too keen on the slower songs.”

“I like them when I get to dance with _you,”_ Peter grins, his hands on your hips as the pair of you start to sway to the music.

You smile and press closer to him, closing your eyes, because the music is so soothing and it’s so peaceful dancing beneath the stars like this with Peter holding you...

“Stop, stop, stop...”

You both look up to see Jean wincing as she raises her hands to her head, like she’s fighting off a headache. Scott’s standing in front of her, worried. You take a step back from Peter. “Jean, are you okay?”

Then a force like a full-on speeding bus hits you, hits Peter, hits everyone in the grounds, knocks you all flat onto the grass and everything goes black.

*

_“(Y/N)?”_

The door to your room opens and you raise your head as Scott dashes in. _“(Y/N),_ have you-? Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise you guys were still asleep.”

You blink and sit up, Peter stirring beside you, as the memories of the night before come back to you. One minute you’d all been celebrating and the next Jean’s powers, for whatever reason, had unleashed and knocked you all out. From what you could gather, it was probably something to do with the solar flares, although neither you nor Peter had been able to surmise what. In the end, you’d fallen asleep on top of the covers whilst waiting for someone to tell you what was going on.

“Hey, what’s up?” you managed to say, rubbing your eyes.

“Jean’s gone.”

Now you’re both wide awake.

“What?” You scrabble off the bed whilst Peter shoots up, snatches up his glasses and jacket and scoots to your side in one second flat.

“She said she wanted to see her father. I tried to stop her but I think she knocked me out.”

Peter frowns. “I thought her father was dead?”

“She said she could hear him inside her head,” Scott says.

You frown. “But where? I mean, if he is still alive, where does he live?”

“I don’t know.”

“The Professor would,” Peter points out. “Let’s go.”

The three of you rush down to the lab where you find Hank and Raven crouching over Charles. It looks like he was just using Cerebro.

“Jean’s gone, she left,” Scott tells them.

“Can you track her or something?” you ask Charles.

“Not anymore.” Charles shakes his head. “She’s grown too powerful even for me.”

You frown. _Too powerful even for Charles? Okay, that’s scary._

“She said she was going to see her father,” Scott adds. “That doesn’t make any sense, right?”

“Prepare the jet, we’re going to bring her home,” Charles orders.

“Leave?” Hank exclaims. “Charles, you’re in no condition-”

“Stop...she’s going to find...she’s going to find nothing good there.”

*

So it is that the X-Men find themselves landing the X-Jet down in Jean’s old neighbourhood. You can’t hear what Raven and Charles are saying, but Raven sounds like she’s angry with Charles, for whatever reason. You on the other hand are worried about Jean, well, you all are, especially Scott. Peter tries to keep everyone feeling positive, trying to reassure you all that you’ll find her and bring her back home, although it’s obvious to you that he’s just as worried.

Eventually, the jet touches down and the eight of you walk out. Your heart lifts for a second as Jean emerges from the nearest house, but she’s looking...not like Jean, not like the quiet, kind, occasionally bubbly woman you know, the one who’s been your best friend for the last nine years, the woman you shared secrets with, sat up late enjoying a hot chocolate and a girl talk with, the woman who was your maid of honour and stood right next to you in all the group photographs that day. Her eyes are different and her skin...her skin looks to be glowing. Your heart sinks as you realise this isn’t the Jean you all know and love.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” she intones.

“Why is that?” Charles rolls forwards, trying to reason with her. “We’ve only come to bring you home, Jean.”

“I don’t have a home. You made sure of that.”

“Look, your father couldn’t handle you and we took you in.”

“You told me my father was dead, and you used me just for my powers.”

You blink. Where is this coming from? You know for a fact there’s no way Charles would do that to someone, especially not Jean, never Jean, whom he loves like his own daughter. Hell, she’s practically his second-in-command, more so than Hank or Raven.

“That’s not what happened. Jean, we can help you, I can help you, but you have to listen to me.”

“No. No, I don’t.” Beside you, Peter, Storm and Kurt all brace themselves, ready to defend everyone in case her powers suddenly unleash themselves again. “Scott. You lied to me, Scott, about everything.”

“We’ll figure everything out together.” Scott steps forwards and you can hear the pain and desperation in his voice. “Just come back to me. Remember? You said you’d always come back to me. Come back to me.”

You try telepathically, or rather hope that she can hear you willing _“Please, Jean, it’s okay, just come with us. Come home.”_

Maybe that’s what somehow pushes her over the edge, or perhaps it’s her own emotions, you don’t know, but at any rate everything suddenly happens very fast. You’re aware of Kurt trying to teleport her back to the mansion, but instead he teleports them both back inside the house and the next thing you know half the house has caved in and is being ripped apart by Jean’s powers. You throw up an ice shield to stop some of the roof tiles hitting you and Hank, whilst Storm uses her powers over wind to blow the rest of the debris away as Jean emerges again. One second, Peter’s at your side and the next he’s a few inches away from Jean as he begins to race up the falling debris she’s still showering down on you all and then Jean lashes out with her powers and Peter flies out of her reach in a blink. You turn your head in time to hear a series of sickening thumps as Peter disappears beyond several hedges and gardens, knocked for miles by the force of Jean’s blow.

“Peter!” Ignoring the others, they can take care of themselves, you rush away from the battle and hurry as fast as you can go to where Peter’s been knocked to, although your legs feel like they’ve turned to lead. Your heart is racing. “Please, Peter, be okay, please, Peter, be okay...” you whisper over and over as you run, like it’s a mantra, like saying it enough will ensure it comes true. Eventually you see where he’s lying and sprint to his side, collapsing to your knees as you see the state he’s in, covered in scratches and barely moving. The rise and fall of his chest reassures you, however, although you’ve no idea how badly he’s hurt. “Peter! Peter, I’m here!”

“I didn’t think it was possible for everything to hurt at once,” Peter gasps, sounding like all the breath’s been knocked out of him.

You grab his hand, inwardly panicking but trying to stay calm at the same time. “You’re going to be fine. Just try not to move and stay with me, okay?” You need Hank, you know, but there’s no way he or the others will hear you from all the way over here, so you conjure up a large snowball and fling it in their direction with all your strength. After a few minutes when you can’t see anyone coming, you try it again, tightening your grip on your husband’s hand. “Come on, Hank, please...” you whisper.

Then, with a BAMF of black smoke and an acrid after-smell, Kurt appears with Storm holding onto his arm, both of them looking shocked and concerned.”Are you okay?” Kurt asks.

“Not really,” Peter mutters.

“Where’s Hank?” you demand. “I need him right now!”

_“(Y/N).”_ Storm’s tone makes you look at her. “Raven’s dead.”

“W-what?” You look between the pair of them, utterly bewildered. “How..?”

Even as you ask it, your stomach sinks because you know you know how.

“Jean knocked her into some debris.” Kurt says. “I don’t think she meant to, but...there were some metal shards sticking out and...” He breaks off, trying to find the right word and makes a gesture, trying to mime something coming out of his chest.

“She was impaled...” Storm finishes.

“Crap...” is all Peter can manage to say, weakly.

The sting of the shock wears off as you try to pull yourself together, although you’re now fighting back tears. “Kurt, you need to get Hank here, ‘cause I don’t know what I’m doing. Please. I know he’s hurting right now but so’s Peter...”

Kurt teleports away before you can finish. Storm moves closer to you, trying to see if she can do anything to help, but a second later, Kurt’s back with Hank. You look up at him, desperately. “I don’t know how bad he’s hurt...”

“Don’t move, Peter.” The doctor in Hank takes over his grieving. “Kurt, there’s a stretcher in the jet, can you bring it back here?” Kurt teleports away. “You two are going to have to help me move him, alright?” You and Storm both nod.

Kurt arrives back with the stretcher and together you’re all able to manoeuvre Peter onto it without making any of the damage worse, at least that’s what Hank says. Then Kurt teleports you all back to the jet where Scott is waiting, looking deeply troubled. You leave Storm to comfort him whilst you sit by Peter, willing him to be okay, to not go into shock or anything at least until you’re all back at the mansion. After a few minutes, you’re joined by Charles and Hank, who’s carrying Raven. You can’t bear to look at her, even though to anyone else she could just be sleeping, instead focusing all your attention on Peter as he keeps drifting in and out of consciousness all the way home.

Once back at the mansion, Scott and Kurt carry Peter back to your room, with you leading to open the doors for them, and to shoo away any kids who might be trying to sneak a peek at what happened. Hank comes in a moment later and you pace back and forth whilst he, with some help from Storm, attends to Peter. You pace so much you start creating ice across the floor in your worry and when Hank comes up to you he nearly slips. You look up, tear tracks evident on your face, but his expression is reassuring.

_“(Y/N),_ he’ll be fine. Just make sure he rests and don’t let him move much unless it’s necessary.”

Your heart squeezes in relief. “Really? He’s okay?”

Hank nods, trying to smile although it’s strained, but you know it’s because he’s thinking about Raven, about how no one could save her. You go over to where Peter’s now resting, deeply asleep but looking somewhat better now. Storm touches your arm, smiles and leaves. Hank’s about to go when you stop him by saying “Hank?” He turns and you look up. “I miss her too. We all do.” You take Peter’s hand. “Thanks.”

Hank swallows hard, nods and leaves. Alone, you sit beside Peter and wait for him to wake up. You can’t bring yourself to hate Jean for this, even though she did do it, because you know that if she’d been in her right frame of mind she’d never have hurt Peter like this, she’d never have hurt any of you, or if she had she’d have been instantly apologetic about it. But this thing that’s now taking over here, whatever power was in that solar flare, it’s changing her. She’s definitely not the Jean you all know and love now.

You get lost in your thoughts until you hear Peter murmur “Hey.” You look at him and manage a smile, although Peter frowns and attempts to sit up. “Have you been crying? Ow!”

“Peter, lie down,” you say, prodding him gently back onto the bed. “You need to rest.”

_“(Y/N),_ who’s been making you cry?” Peter insists, grabbing your hand. “Tell me.”

You want to laugh at how protective he’s being in spite of being injured. “Peter, I was crying because I thought I’d lost you.” Fresh tears start spilling at the idea of that. “I mean I’ve never seen you hurt this badly before...”

“Hey, come here.” Peter pulls you down against him and hugs you. Closing your eyes, you rest your head on his chest and wrap your arms carefully around him so as not to hurt him more. “I’m fine. Really.”

You manage a choked giggle through your tears. “You’d say that even if you were on the brink of death!”

“Well, yeah.” Peter grins as you laugh again. “But I mean it. I’m alright.”

Peter might be alright, you think, but Jean isn’t, and now Raven’s dead...you don’t know where you’re all supposed to go from here.

*

You insist on nursing Peter through this as he heals. Luckily, being fast, his Mutation means he heals quicker than most people do, although you both know it’ll still take a while. It’s kind of painful watching him having to move so slowly –moving at normal speed’s bad enough as far as he’s concerned but this, this is torture. However if he moves any faster he could keep on injuring himself and slow up the healing process even more. Luckily, as usual, he doesn’t complain as you help him to the bathroom and back, before you decide he can manage without you for a bit whilst you make dinner for both of you.

In the kitchen, you encounter Scott sitting at the table with a glass of what looks like water, but you know probably isn’t. He glances up as you come in and you offer him a hopeful smile. “How’s Peter?” he asks.

“He’s been better,” you admit, getting out the ingredients you need to make stir-fry with noodles, “but Hank says he’ll be fine as long as he just rests, and takes painkillers.”

Scott nods. “Good.” He takes another swig of his drink whilst you start cooking. Then he says “Jean wouldn’t have done that. I mean, I know we’ve all kind of wanted to hit Peter at one point or another, no offence, but she would never...I mean, not really...”

“That wasn’t her,” you finish for him, turning your head. “Jean would never have done that if she’d really been aware of what she was doing. She’d never hurt any of us deliberately.”

Scott heaves himself up from the table. “This wasn’t how it was meant to go. She should be here with us, we should have brought her home, she should-” He cuts himself off and shudders. “If it hadn’t been for that flare...”

You stop what you’re doing and walk up to him. “Scott, we can fix this, Charles can fix this, somehow. There’s got to be a way to bring her back to normal.”

Scott nods. “I hope you’re right.”

You pat his shoulder as he leaves, murmuring to yourself once he’s gone “You’re not the only one.”

*

_“(Y/N),_ come on! We’re leaving!”

You look up. It’s the following day, and you and Peter have just eaten, not really planning on doing much else for the rest of the day, and now Storm’s just stuck her head around the door for whatever reason.

“What?” You push yourself off the bed. “What’s happening?”

“Hank’s gone after Jean.”

“What?”

“What?” Peter repeats from behind you. “Because of Raven?”

“Yeah, so we need to go right now otherwise they’ll get to her before we do.”

“Whoa, whoa, they?” you ask.

Kurt sticks his head into the room. _“Ja,_ he’s teamed up with Erik.”

You and Peter exchange a worried look. “If they find her, they’re going to kill her,” Storm adds. “Come on, we need you.”

“I can’t.” Much as you want to help Jean, Peter comes first. “You’re going to have to do this one without me.”

“But-”

“No, I’m sorry, guys-”

_“(Y/N),_ go.” Peter pushes himself up as much as you’ll allow without actually sitting up. “I’ll be fine here, what’s going to happen to me?”

“But, Peter-”

“Jean needs you more than I do right now.” Peter fixes you with a serious expression. “Just come back alive.”

You sigh, knowing he’s right, and then lean down to kiss him. “I love you, Peter.”

“I love you too, now, go.”

*

Kurt teleports you all to where Charles says Jean is. Unfortunately, you’re met by Erik, wearing his Magneto helmet, and Hank, who’s blue and furry once again, as well as some other Mutants you don’t recognise. You groan inwardly. _Great, another Mutant on Mutant battle, terrific!_

“Hello, old friend,” Charles says.

“”Save the “old friend” shit, Charles, and stay out of my way,” Erik snaps.

“I’m sorry for what she did, but I can’t let you go in there.” Whilst Charles and Erik talk, or rather whilst Charles talks and Erik throws retorts back at him, you look over at Hank and silently will him not to do this, hoping he’ll read the desperation in your eyes and join your group instead. But he stands firm. You sigh. _So this is all going to end in more violence, then? This is the last thing we need right now!_

“If you touch her, I will fucking kill you!” Scott steps forwards but you grab his arm.

“Scott, don’t!” You look back to Erik, wishing for the first time in your life that he knows Peter’s his son, because then he might listen to you. “Look, we don’t need to do this, just let us get Jean back to the mansion and we can sort this out.”

_“(Y/N)’s_ right,” Charles agrees. “Killing Jean won’t bring Raven back.”

For a second, you think you’ve got through to them, that they can see the truth of Charles’ words and have come to their senses. Then Erik hardens his expression. “The girl dies.”

Before you can so much as open your mouth to tell him he’s being ridiculous and blinded by his emotions, same as Hank – and those are the words you’re planning to use, yes – the fight breaks out. You sigh but join your friends as they battle these new Mutants – one of whom has some kind of psychic mind-control abilities, another who has extra-long dreadlocks that have a mind of their own – and little by little Erik and Hank make their way to the house where Jean is...Jean is what? Waiting? Hiding? Being consumed by this power that’s taking over you? You have no idea.

The guy with the dreadlocks suddenly fastens them around your wrists to keep you from throwing anymore ice balls. You struggle as he chuckles, thinking he’s got you, and then you remember that just because you’re restrained doesn’t mean you can’t use your powers. Quickly, you turn the already damp ground beneath his feet – it had rained earlier – into a sheet of black ice and as he slips and slides about, trying to control his balance, you form ice around your wrists to expand the space between your skin and his hair before yanking your hands free and subduing him with another ice ball.

Free, you look over to where Hank is and then turn to Charles, who looks worried. “Don’t worry, I won’t let Hank get to her.”

“Be careful!” Charles shouts after you. You leave Storm to deal with the weird psychic woman and rush after Hank, vaulting over a parked taxi as the pair of you race across the wide road and towards the house.

“Hank!” You leap on top of an abandoned school bus, thankful when he turns in your direction. “You don’t have to do this!”

_“(Y/N),_ don’t make me hurt you!” Hank growls.

“I don’t want to hurt you either, but I can’t let you kill her!”

“How many more people have to die before-?”

“You think I’m not angry too? You think I don’t care about the fact my best friend nearly killed my husband?” You shake your head. “Hank, that’s not her, you know it’s not, she’s changed! Whatever that flare did to her-!”

“I’m not going to let her hurt anyone else!” Hank turns and runs towards the building. You groan, this time out loud, although it’s lost to him amid the sounds of the traffic.

“Forgive me for this,” you mutter, before creating more ice beneath his feet, and this time Hank does slip, knocking his head against the curb as he lands. You know he’s pretty hardy in this form, so even if he’s knocked out it won’t be for long. Leaping down from on top of the bus, you form an ice cage around his stunned form, praying that by the time he’s broken out you’ll have been able to subdue Jean and get her back home. You crouch beside him, hating yourself for having to do this. After all, he’s your friend, and the one person you always turn to in the mansion when all else seems lost. You shake your head. This isn’t Hank. Once he comes to his senses, he’ll regret even thinking about killing Jean. That is, if Scott doesn’t murder him first. “I’m sorry, Hank,” you sigh, “but Jean comes first this time.”

As you straighten up, you’re aware of the ground around you shaking as Erik uses his Mutation to pull up a long-buried subway train, ripping it right out of the road. Again, you use ice shields to save yourself, and others, from the falling debris, and look around. Charles is having trouble with Kurt – the woman is in a psychic battle with him, it seems, and they’re having a tug of war with poor Kurt caught up in the middle of it all. There’s no sign of Storm or Scott, you can only assume they’re off fighting another Mutant somewhere, maybe the one you subdued earlier.

Without seeing you, Erik flies up the steps of the building and through its front door. Heart racing, you rush after him in time to see him attempt to use his powers to kill Jean. She’s standing at the top of the stairs, looking over the railing, with a blonde woman you don’t recognise at her side. You watch in horror as she turns Erik’s powers back on him, using the metal banister to grab him before smashing his helmet and throwing him out of the building.

“Jean, stop, please!” You dart to the foot of the stairs but don’t dare get any closer to her like this. “We don’t want to hurt you, just come back with us and we can fix this.”

“But you don’t get it, _(Y/N).”_ Even her voice sounds different now, you reflect, like she’s using someone else’s words, like they’re speaking through her. “This power...it feels so good...”

“This isn’t you, Jean,” you insist. “You’re not a killer, and you’d never hurt any of us deliberately. Come on.” You hesitate. “Come home.”

Jean blinks, a cruel smirk forming on her lips. “How’s Peter?”

You flinch. “Stop it, Jean, I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work.” You look over at the woman. “What did you do to her?”

“I haven’t done anything,” the woman answers, watching Jean admiringly. “She’s not doing anything she didn’t already have the potential to do.”

“The Jean I know wouldn’t do anything like this,” you insist.

“That was before I knew what I could do...” Jean fixes her expression on you, her eyes darkening. “And I knew what Charles did to me!”

You foresee her attack but there’s not much you can do to stop a mental wave throwing you across the room, and you daren’t risk throwing anything back at her, so you let her attack you, although pain shoots through your arm as you hit the wall. “Jean, please!” you shout. “Look what you’re doing! There’ll be no X-Men left at this rate...” You break off and look over at the blonde woman. “And that’s what you want, isn’t it? Jean, don’t listen to her, she’s using you!”

Whatever Jean’s about to say is cut off as Charles and Kurt finally appear in the room with you. Kurt immediately noticed you and rushes up to crouch next to you. _“(Y/N),_ are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you say, sitting up.

Kurt sighs in relief. “Good, otherwise Peter would have killed me!”

You giggle in spite of the situation. He helps you up as Charles attempts to reason with Jean, but it doesn’t work because a split second later, she throws Kurt into the crashed subway train, and you mean that literally, she throws him inside the thing. You hear a thud and an “Oof!” as Kurt lands. Automatically, you rush after him, finding him right down at the end sprawled on the floor. “Kurt! Hey, come on!” You crouch next to him. “Be alive, please!”

Luckily he was, just knocked unconscious. You were about to try and rouse him when you heard the sounds of commotion coming from outside and rushed to the broken train window to take a look. Armed soldiers were using tasers on your friends, at least the ones who were still standing, as well as Erik and his Mutants. You watched in shock as they latched what looked like collars on poles around their necks and began to drag them away. You shuddered, thinking you would never even treat a dead animal in such an undignified manner. Then, realising, they’ll be coming in for you, Kurt, Jean and Charles next, you make a quick decision and spring out of the opposite broken window, landing lightly on the building’s steps before you break into a quick sprint, hoping they’re not counting how many Mutants made all this mess in the street.

You shoot around the corner and wait a few minutes, before peeking out. The soldiers now have all your companions, including Jean, and none of them seem to have noticed you’re not there. You sigh, watching them being loaded into a van, your mind racing. _Think, (Y/N), think! You’re on your own now and it’s up to you to save them..._ You shake your head, wishing Peter’s with you. _What would Peter do right now?_

What are you thinking? You know exactly what Peter would do right now!

As the van starts to drive away, you take a deep breath and run after it, not caring if anyone notices you or not, as long as the drivers don’t. Your one chance of saving the others hinges on your not being noticed. When they don’t stop and get out, you assume you’re safe. Of course, there’s no way you can outrun a van, or even keep pace with it for very long, but like all vehicles, it’s got to obey the rules of the road and at the first set of traffic lights you jump up and use your powers to help you stick to the back of the van, just like the way your tongue gets stuck on a very cold ice cube. Spider-like, you make your way up the back of the van until you’re crouching on top of it, very dangerous for a number of reasons but if you can just make it to where they’re taking your friends without being caught, it’ll be worth all the risks.

The van carries you several miles away before slowing as it reaches a train yard. As it turns at the gate, you take the opportunity to scrabble back down the back of it again and hop to the ground before shadowing it on foot again. There are more soldiers here and you duck behind a pile of packing crates to hear what they’re saying.

“Is that the last of them?”

“Yeah.” The second soldier sounds like he’s sneering. “Everyone calls them big-shot heroes, but to me they’ll always be a bunch of freaks.”

You resist the urge to hit him, reflecting that ten years ago, you’d have just cried at that. Being with Peter for so long’s toughened you up, it seems. As your friends, some of them regaining consciousness now, along with your part-time enemies, are loaded aboard the train, you creep silently past and around the other side of the carriages, unnoticed by any of the soldiers. You make your way to one of the carriages at the front and use your powers again to latch onto the side of it as you hear the doors being slammed and someone shout “Right, that’s it, take them away!”

_Take them away where?_ You wonder. _Out of the country? To a holding facility? Off the face of the Earth?_

It’s a scary thought.

You wait until the train is fully in motion and away from the yard before hoisting yourself on top of the carriage, thinking hard about your next move. In the end, you decide it’s best to just stay where you are and see where they take you...that is until a bridge comes looming up at you out of the darkness. With a yelp, you flatten yourself to the top of the train, feeling the rush of air go over the top of your head and back as you miss being knocked off the carriage by several inches. Once out of the tunnel you sit up and decide you’d rather be inside the train now, even if it’s full of armed soldiers. That’s got to be safer than nearly being killed by a bridge, surely.

Using your Mutation to freeze open a hole in the top of the carriage, you wriggled through the shattered metal and jump down before looking around. The carriage is deserted, except for Jean, who’s unconscious and strapped to a table. You check her forehead and pulse, just to make sure, before trying to make some kind of plan. A sudden thump from above makes you look up, however, and you create some ice step to poke your head out of the hole you made earlier. You gulp. The train is being boarded by an army of...creatures? You don’t know what to call them but you know for a fact they aren’t Mutants.

“Whoa..!” Thinking quickly, you reseal the hole with ice before rushing down to the compartment door to alert the troopers. A quick flash of ice and the lock shatters and you dash through the carriage past a swarm of very startled soldiers, all armed to the teeth but too busy wondering where you came from to start firing at you. Ignoring them, you rush through to the next carriage, which is also full of troopers, and they’re still too bewildered to try and stop you, although one of them does yell “Hey!” as you break into the next compartment, this one thankfully being the one where your friends and fellow Mutants are being held. You’re pleased to see Hank’s back to normal now, because he’s usually in a better frame of mind when he’s out of “Beast-form.”

_“(Y/N)!”_ Charles exclaims, both in surprise and relief, as the others blink at you, wondering how you got on without any of them seeing.

“Something’s trying to get on the train!” Even as you say it, there’s a horrible sound of metal being torn apart several carriages down and you all swing your heads around to look. “Or rather, _several_ somethings!”

Several of the troopers rush out to investigate, whilst you take in the fact that your friends are restrained where they sit. “Your fellow Muties come to bail you out,” the leading trooper sneers.

“They’re not Mutants,” Charles replies. “Free us, you’re going to need our help.”

The leading trooper ignores him and asks into his radio “What’s the status on those Mutants?”

“We’re falling back now,” comes the reply. “They’re not...”

“What? They’re not what?”

“They’re not Mutants!”

“We could help you,” Charles insists.

You nod. “You’ve got to let us free.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” the man snaps, looking at you. “I don’t know how you got aboard but I’ll be damned if I let you out of my sight now!”

Something in you snaps, suddenly, and before you’re even aware of what’s happening, you grab him by the front of his jacket with surprising strength, anger blazing through you as your fingers tingle with ice crystals. “Listen! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through in the last few days! I’ve been sent into space, given myself a brain-freeze headache, been knocked out, my best friend’s been taken over by some alien power, my husband’s nearly been killed, one of my friends _has_ been killed, _I’ve_ nearly been killed by a _flaming bridge,_ of all things, and now I have to listen to you completely disregarding everything Charles Xavier is telling you because you don’t trust Mutants! Well, no more!” You pull him closer. “You can either release my friends and survive this attack, or you can let those creatures kill you and we’ll just sit back and watch!” You raise your eyebrows. “Your move!”

The man swallows and nods to his men. “Release them.”

You let him go to find Charles, Hank, Storm, Kurt, Scott and even Erik staring at you with wide eyes and sagging jaws. “Whoa!” Scott finally laughs. “Peter’s gonna be sorry he missed that!”

*

In the end, the battle’s costly, with soldiers being killed by these creatures left right and centre. You’re certain now they must be aliens of some kind, probably connected to the solar flare that Jean absorbed in the first place. Perhaps they were even the ones who did this to her. At any rate, you all fight together now, with Hank and Erik and Erik’s Mutants at your side just the way it should be. Charles and Kurt make it back to where Jean’s being held whilst you and Hank fight side by side as the creatures pile en mass, only to be knocked out, frozen and physically tossed out of the train by the pair of you. It’s funny how quickly you can forgive someone when they’re helping you save the world.

Then the next thing you know, the train is crashing and toppling over onto one side, and you and your friends all collide into one another. You’re not really sure what’s going on but by the time you and your friends stumble out of the train, Jean is awake and fighting the blonde alien woman with her powers. Of course, you all rush forwards to help, but for once she seems to have this all in hand as she uses her powers to kill the attacking creatures, turning them into dust. You smile. Here’s the Jean you all know and love. God, you’ve missed her.

The alien woman’s not done, yet, though, as she makes to attack Jean, but Jean stops her and starts to transfer the power of the flare into her. But something’s not right and you feel yourself, what, starting to vaporise? Oh, God, are you about to die? After you promised Peter you’d come home alive? Before you could even do any of the things you planned to do together?

“Jean!” Scott shouts.

“You can’t control it,” the woman announces. “If you kill me, you kill them all. Your emotions make you weak.”

Jean looks over to Charles, nods and you barely have time to wonder what they’re saying telepathically before she and the woman shoot upwards into space. You regain control of yourself and rush to Scott’s side along with Storm and Kurt, unable to see what’s happening, but a sudden burst of energy causes you all to gasp and flinch. Taking the form of a phoenix, the energy flies away. You wait for Jean to come back down again...but she doesn’t.

“She’s gone...” Scott murmurs.

“She is free,” Charles answers.

You hug Scott as he breaks down, hugging you back, before Kurt and Storm join the hug, the four of you silently mourning your loss. But you don’t cry properly until you’re back in the mansion, after you’ve all four drifted off your separate ways to your rooms, and you’ve walked into yours to find Peter flicking through one of your books (he really brings a whole new meaning to “speed-reading”) before looking up to see you come in.

“Hey, how’d it go?” His smile drops as you walk over to sit on the bed beside him, bringing your knees up to your chest. “What? What happened? Tell me?”

“We lost Jean,” you whisper before bursting into a flood of tears.

“What?” Peter eases himself up, which takes a lifetime for him but only about twenty seconds for you, and wraps his arms around you. “How? What happened?”

“She sacrificed herself to save us,” you sob into his chest. “That power was killing her anyway...she’s gone, Peter...”

Peter hugs you tighter, only one thing to say coming into his mind. “Poor Scott.”

*

It’s almost two months later and you’re tidying up after another day of classes. Yes, you heard that right, classes. A couple of days after Jean’s death, Charles called you and Hank into his office to announce his decision to retire. Of course, you both protested but he firmly stated that it was time for him to leave the school in, as he put it, “more capable hands.” He’d put you and the rest of the remaining X-Men in charge of teaching, your responsibilities shared between you – with Storm teaching Science, Scott teaching Maths, you in the dual role of Art and English teacher, Kurt teaching History and Geography and Peter, naturally, teaching Sports – whilst Hank took over as Dean of the school.

You’d received a postcard from Charles earlier that day, congratulating all of you on what seemed to be a successful running of the Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters, as the school was now named. You missed him like crazy, but Hank had proved himself a good person to work under as well, and you even P.A’d for him in your spare time. Life wasn’t the same without Jean either, you thought about her every day, and today especially in light of what you’d just found out.

“Hey, slow down!” You look up to see Peter and Kurt passing your open classroom door, Peter having just reprimanded a few students for running. “Safety first!”

“You’re one to talk about safety, Mr Maximoff!” you call, drily.

A whiff of air and your husband’s beside you, leaning over to whisper, though loud enough for the remaining kids in your classroom to hear “Well, maybe you should give me a private lecture on it, Mrs Maximoff.”

The children giggle as you shake your head. You swear ever since Peter got back on his feet, he’s been cockier than usual lately. “Alright, you lot,” you smile, “I mean it, go out and get some fresh air. Shoo.”

They all scamper off, except for one little girl, Judy, who comes up and tugs at your dress. You crouch beside her. “Mrs Maximoff, I know why you look so happy today.”

“Oh, you do, do you?” You smile. “Well, can you maybe keep that to yourself for a little while, hm?”

Judy nods, eagerly, and rushes out, giggling. Peter glances at you. “What was that all about?”

“Judy’s got a pretty unique Mutation,” you inform him. “She’s got the ability to detect the number of heartbeats in a room.”

Peter looks thoughtful. “Huh. Well, I guess that’s useful if there’s an assassin hiding behind the curtains.”

You giggle. “Yeah, and she can also detect heartbeats from people who haven’t been born yet.”

Either Peter’s brain works faster than you think or he sort of suspected something like this, because he’s at your side again in an instant, staring at you with wide, expectant eyes. “What, you’re...I mean, we’re going to have a baby?”

“No.” You smile as he frowns. “We’re going to have _two.”_

“Are you serious?!” Peter yelps before grabbing you and sweeping you off your feet. You giggle again as he spins you around before setting you back down again. “We’re having twins? _(Y/N),_ I love you!”

“I love you too,” you grin as he kisses you.

Storm pokes her head into the room, Kurt and Scott not far behind her. “Hey, are you guys coming to lunch-? Whoa!” She looks back and forth between the pair of you. “Good news?”

“Let’s just say you guys should have had a bet going...” you smile.

Storm gives a little squeal and rushes in to hug you. “You’re pregnant?”

“That’s wonderful!” Kurt exclaims. “Congratulations!”

“It’s twins,” Peter informs him, proudly.

“God, how are you going to cope?” Storm teases, laughing.

You look over at Scott. “You know, I think if one of them’s a girl, we should call her Jeanie.”

Peter nods. “Yeah, that goes well with Maximoff.”

Scott smiles. “She’d have loved that.”

Jean may be gone, but her legacy lives on, you decide, as the five of you hug one another and celebrate the one thing she was hoping would happen in the near future.


End file.
